They were so close.  Ides of March is gripping at times, somber and thought provoking at others but when the core of the film is revealed, it’s hard to find comfort or care in its primary characters.   Ok, I have to exclude Philip Seymour Hoffman from that generalization; his character and performance were the most true to life, which inherently doomed him in the film.  The others, not so much.

Ides of March follows Stephen Myers (Gosling), a charismatic, energetic campaign organizer working to win the Presidential primary for incumbent Governor Mike Morris (Clooney).  Leading such a harried campaign, there’s no time for relationships until Myers, quite surprisingly, strikes up a relationship with a staff intern, Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood).   When Molly seeks Stephen’s help with a sensitive issue from her past it only adds to the enormous pressure of leading the campaign.  Sadly when it rains it pours for Stephen – along with the Primary of the century and Molly’s angst, he’s pursued by a smart and resourceful campaign manager for the opposition, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti).  Tom is a master of subterfuge and flirts offers of a place on the other side’s administration while feeding seeds of discontent about Stephen’s own staff.    Caught between his loyalty to the Governor, his duty to help Molly and his own idealism about politics, Stephen traverses the rocky waters of the Capital Hill process while learning the true nature of the job and what he has resigned to let his life become.

Gosling (Half Nelson) is the spotlight role here.  I’m making my first Oscar pick of the year by saying that he will get a nod (but not a win).  Clooney (The Peacemaker) does average at best as Governor Morris.  He appears more to be a walking headshot than a believable candidate.  His running platform is filled with naïve public pandering which you have to attribute to the script, not necessarily to him.  Giamatti (Sideways) is ripe and passionate.  Playing a seasoned veteran of the campaign game, you really get a feel for his characters position within the film and its’ portrayal as he manipulates Gosling’s character.  Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen) gave a strong performance, but I question why she would take a role like this that only perpetuates her limited ability to play teen angst characters (even though here she’s supposedly 20).  Super hot, manipulative like a teen – I expect and want more from such a fresh faced beauty.  Marisa Tomei (Four Rooms) and Jeffrey Wright (Source Code) round out what appears to be a stellar cast on paper; the issue for them, and this film, is that the plot will cause audience rejection.  You’ve got a great string of powerful performances throughout the film, but it’s lost in the idealism within its execution.

When screening audiences are laughing during a funeral sequence that is supposed to broody and heartfelt…you know you went wrong with the characters.  ‘Ides’ gives you one solid performance to the next, but when the true nature and reality of the characters are revealed, you lose any interest in caring what happens to them and even more so about the eventual outcome of the people they play onscreen.  It’s a shame, because some great performances may get lost in the mix on this one.  Let’s hope moviegoers and Oscar voters can see through the subterfuge.

3 Stars Out of 5

The Ides of March is rated R for pervasive language.  Running Time: 101 minutes

Ah what a piece of work is man.  How noble in reason, infinite in faculties…yada yada yada – you might use the same Shakespearian quote to define the beasties in ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ hitting multiplexes this weekend.  This film aims to take the Apes franchise in a more human direction as it prequels the story of the ultimate imprisonment and demise of the human race at the hands of these mad primates.

For those new to the franchise, the gist of the earlier films is the return of an American astronaut to the planet Earth only to find that Apes have taken on the role of the dominant species of the planet, and humans are hunted and subjected to torturous existences like the zoos we cage apes in today.  Where ‘Rise’ flips the script is by detailing how the apes became intelligent and where their eventual world domination began which in this case, is sunny San Francisco.

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a dedicated biochemist on the verge of producing a groundbreaking drug that could cure Alzheimer’s.  As with any serum, chimps become the obvious test subjects.  But before Will can show the world his amazing research, the test apes are abruptly put down and oddly unknown to the research facility, one of the test apes was pregnant and gave birth to a chimp named Caesar that has traces of the serum in his system which manifest as a brain cell enhancer producing greater than normal intelligence.   Refusing to accept that raising a wild ape is a bad idea (even a really smart ape), Will takes Caesar into his home to raise.  What follows is a species awakening as Caesar grows up and discovers who and what he is and how different he is from the humans he’s raised around.   When Caesar mistakes a neighbors scolding and lashes out against him, he gets sent to a primate sanctuary (what luck there was such a large one so close to home), where he meets other apes in captivity.  It almost sounds cliché that the father-son proprietors of the sanctuary, John & Dodge Landon (Brian Cox & Tom Felton) have very little respect for apes and subject them regularly to mistreatment and abuse.  Not being your average ape, Caesar is violently acclimated to his new surroundings by his cagemates, but eventually finds a way to reach and reason with them while getting a crash course on where apes rank in the schemes of humankind thanks to the sanctuary owners cruel son Dodge (was this a stretch for Felton whose had plenty of practice being an a**hole from his stint in the Harry Potter films as Draco Malfoy?  I think not.).  Not content to accept their place in the chain of life, Caesar finds a way to steal batches of the serum and expose his fellow apes giving them all incredible intelligence.  With an army of smart ape brethren behind him, an all out assault is launched against the San Francisco Bay community and mankind.

What you need to know first and foremost is what this film isn’t.  It’s not an action film, although there is action.  It’s not a cool sci-fi thriller, although it has thrilling moments and definitely carries a classification of science fiction.  In fact, I daresay it’s a drama (and for the 1st and 2nd act, almost moves at the pace of one).  This is a stark tale of man’s duality that plays out with the ape as the human.  It makes suggestions about our penchant for cruelty, showcases our inspirational power to love, and revels in our unflinching motivation to test the bounds of nature with our creativity (of course the almighty dollar is at the root in the film, but hey – no species is perfect).  Franco (Spiderman) brings nothing new or inspiring to his turn as passionate scientist Will Rodman, and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), who plays ape doctor Caroline Aranha is nothing more than eye candy – albeit really, really cute eye candy.   The probelm is Pinto has fallen into that group of ‘hot actresses’ which is much better than a ‘hottie acting’.  What’s the difference?  Ask me in the comments section).  John Lithgow (Ricochet) portrays Will’s Dad Charles who is suffering from Alzheimer’s and serves as the driving force behind Will’s passion to develop a cure.  Granted Lithgow is old, but his acting skills could be put to much better use in much better roles – he seemed incredibly wasted here playing an inept aging old Dad.

The true stars of the film are the apes, but that credit lands squarely on the digital animators.  To put it bluntly, these apes look darn good and eerily human.  They add to your perplexed focus of who you’re cheering for.  They look so human, you start to think of them that way, and become incredibly understanding as to why they’d want to wipe us all out based on how we’re treating them.

I really enjoyed this film as a drama and you may too, but therein lies the rub because it isn’t being sold that way by the filmmakers.  It’s marketed as a wild ride of apes and conquest, but it’s really a strong and emotional story about mankind, our unrelenting drive to usurp nature and the cruelty that is at the core of both our species.  You don’t need this box office fodder to tell you how any dream being driven with those motives is going to end.

3 stars out of 5

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is rated PG-13 for violence, terror, some sexuality and brief strong language.  Running Time:  1 hour and 45 minutes.

Cal is a steady going Dad whose life is turned upside down when his wife Emily brashly confesses that she’s had an affair and wants a divorce.  Thrust into a world of new single-hood, he finds an affable and incredibly stylish womanizing friend in Jacob.  Jacob helps him to reshape his persona and at the same time re-examine the steps that led him to his current state and how recapturing his manhood would inevitably get it back.  Lovelorn for his wayward wife and still seemingly obsessed with fatherly landscaping duties (witness the midnight trips to his old house just to keep the grounds immaculate…hilarious), he embarks on a complete mind and body makeover that not only opens his eyes to a world he never knew, but manages to help him cope and adjust his thinking about his outlook on family and friends.

Crazy, Stupid Love has the star power and plot material to make another great family hugging, love inducing, tear jerking all around feel good movie (like 2003’s Love Actually), but it just doesn’t get there.  I loved the casting though, Emma Stone (Superbad) and Julianne Moore (Short Cuts) are the dynamic redheaded duo leading the female star power, but are aptly supported by Marisa Tomei (Four Rooms) and even Beth Littleford (I still remember her as a delightful spunky correspondent on TV’s The Daily Show).  Steve Carell (Dinner For Schmucks) is solid on the male end, and thankfully transparent of his ‘Michael’ character from TV’s The Office.  Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) is picture perfect as ladies man Jacob.  Looking practically chiseled both in body and face, I was kindly reminded why he ranks so high on the ladies lists of ‘hotties.’  The subject matter was far from a stretch for him and he’s played vulnerability with much more conviction (do I need to mention that flick?).  Kevin Bacon (Footloose) rounds out the supporting cast as David the recipient of the cuckolding desires of Emily (is it me, or is Bacon aging roughly?).  I had the pleasure of knowing his father Edmund and the similarities are definitely getting closer.

As a family themed drama the film is barely passable.  Ditto for its attempt to be a hip and rowdy display of singles life, and even a teen angst filled throbbing love story.  Let’s not mention its misguided attempt at showing a signals-crossed relationship between Emma Stone’s character Hannah and her would be boyfriend Richard (hey…is that singer Josh Groban).   It has all the means to deliver, it just comes up episodic.  Less of a story of journey and discovery ending in a storybook happy ending, it’s more a piece of a family; a piece of life and only a part of the story that in its third act, just doesn’t end well.  I guess, like cuckolding, you can’t really think it will end on a positive note.  Maybe the filmmakers got it right.

2 stars out of 5

Crazy, Stupid, Love is rated PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language.  Running Time: 118 minutes

That wasn’t too thick was it?  What can I say, I haven’t seen a worthwhile romcom in many moons, FWB was just what the doctor ordered.  Timberlake transcended his entertainer persona (and no, I didn’t think his turn as Sean Parker in ‘The Social Network’ was good enough), Kunis graduated effortlessly from her stereotypical ‘looks for payoff’ roles.   You could easily question whether the two could pass off believable onscreen chemistry before seeing the film, but once you see their give and take, you’ll feel like they were together for years prior to filming.  Both Timberlake & Kunis petitioned the filmmakers to steer the film away from a ‘safe PG-13’ and tell a true ‘friends with benefits’ story that couldn’t possibly be contained in such a weak rating.  Their gamble paid off.  R for ‘reality’ not for nudity (although you do get a peek on both sides).

Dylan (Timberlake) is a laid back west coast thriving online blogger who gets a shot at the big leagues of creativity in NYC through an executive headhunter Jamie (Kunis) based in the Big Apple.   Both are jilted lovers who’ve sworn off caring for the opposite sex so it’s only natural they’d become fast friends as she shows him NYC life and he acclimates.  The two figure they’ve seen every romantic comedy in the books on ‘friends with benefits’ fail miserably; but they would still somehow succeed at it…poor misguided souls.  What follows is a series of hilarious and endearing moments as the two discover each other, their frailty and even the familial ties that make them the people they are and what makes them perfectly suited for each other.

We all know that’s the gist of every romantic comedy.  The initial elation and sexual fun, the ultimate realization of a relationship, the conflict and struggle and then the 3^rd act where they come together.  What sets FWB apart, is it never drags or lags and each act of progression in the story is welcome and makes you practically giddy when it arrives.  It’s filled with great 90’s tunes to take you back and just superb casting on the supporting side.  Jenna Elfman (TV’s Greg & Dharma) portrays Dylan’s older sister and caretaker to their aging father played superbly by Richard Jenkins (HBO’s Six Feet Under).  Woody Harrelson (White Men Can’t Jump) is uproarious as Tommy, the openly gay but shockingly straight sports editor at GQ who works with Dylan.  Patricia Clarkson (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) is a tantalizing and tempting tease in every way.  As Jamie’s mother Lorna, she’s a vivacious, outspoken, free love and completely space cased delight!  I usually worry when a film has 3 or more writers, but in this case it may have been warranted.  Interjected within the film is a ‘makeshift’ romantic comedy that Jamie & Dylan watch.  It’s so painfully bad to watch that it’s actually funny and features great unbilled cameos from Rashida Jones (The Office) and Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother).

The only thing that struck me strange about this film (and even more so with the promos I see today), is what happened to the scenes from the early trailers involving Jamie’s mom Lorna?  If you’re a trailer watcher like me, there was a great scene where Jamie walks in on her mother in bondage with a young male – it apparently didn’t make the final cut, but I bet it was a hilarious bit.  Oh well, there’s always the extended BluRay…

4 Stars Out of 5

Friends With Benefits is rated R for some violent content and brief sexuality.  Running Time: 109 minutes

For the rest of…not so much.  Transformers 3 clatchets its’ way into the box office line up this weekend and analysts are pegging it’s holiday gross as high as $150-200M (from Wednesday to Monday night).  It’s the big July 4^th holiday movie, surrounded only by a meager Tom Hanks/Julia Robert drama-romance vehicle and some teen fodder via pop teen queen Selena Gomez’s new film – surely it can hit that number?  I’m going to say no, and here’s why:

First the story.  T3 picks up about 4 years from the last film.  Although it’s based in current day, it’s premise is rooted in the the past; the true life space race between the Soviets and the US in the 1960’s.  Apparently a strange, and very large, object crashed on the moon and the strong political push by then President John F. Kennedy and subsequently Richard Nixon, to get us on the moon was all about beating the Russians who also had the same intelligence.  When Neil Armstrong and company landed, their mission was truly about reconnaissance not just simple space exploration.  The crew discovers a crashed ship with a giant metal man at the helm proving the existence of life elsewhere (of course we know it’s a transformer, but which one?).  Meanwhile, at present day, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, continue their mission of helping the US to police the globe while quietly hunting Decepticons.  Our young hero Sam Witwicky has graduated from the Ivy League institution discretely funded by the US government, and now resides with his new girlfriend Carly in a pretty sweet bungalow on the hopping side of town.  Barred from government Transformer action, he discovers an ivy league education isn’t what it used to be as he struggles with unemployment while continuing to look for that next ‘dare to be great’ opportunity.  After bumbling into a job at a NASA funded thinktank, as of all things a mailboy, he stumbles onto information about a secret plan being hatched by the Decepticons involving the ‘dark side of the moon.’   Turns out, even that ship simply crashing on the moon with an unknown pilot was ‘more than meets the eye!’

Long winded huh?  Little bit?  That’s because this was a long film.  2 hours and 37 minutes to be exact, and that does not include previews.  This was Michael Bay’s ‘Titanic’ opus.  The only thing missing was his signature 360 degree pan-around-body shot (made famous in ‘Bad Boys’, and reused for ‘The Rock’ all the way up to his 2005 dud ‘The Island’).  This epic has to be hands down, some of the best CGI and in-and-out 3D I’ve seen on the big screen.   Even simple movements through traffic were detailed enough to provide 3D in almost every corner.  Some real care was taken in the editing room and you’ll hear all about it next Feb come Oscar time.

The problem is, so many mistakes were made in other places, it overshadows what is just a pure 3D delight (witness the promos of those men flying around the buildings…whooh!)  Let’s start with our hottie du jour Rosie Huntington-Whitely (Victoria Secret model turned actress) who portrays Sam’s love interest Carly.  No one is going to argue that this woman is hot, hey she’s a VS model – we know she’s hot.   But Bay made a similar mistake as he did with Megan Fox (Bad Boys) in the previous films.  Megan was too hot for the films, she overshadowed the cars, she was more of a visual distraction than the cheesy CGI blurs of transformation in the first film.  While Fox was distractingly hot, Whitely is just TOO HOT to be in such an unbelievable relationship.  Granted, Sam saved the world twice and has ‘sacked up’ for the cause, but experiencing a girlfriend like Megan Fox and then followed by a woman who is arguably just as hot, is just too unrealistic.  It’s like hitting the lottery twice for a zillion dollars…3 days apart!  It doesn’t happen.  Topple the pairing with the idea that he’s unemployed and she makes their living as an assistant curator for an eccentric millionaire who, queue the cliché, has a thing for her.  In her defense, I can’t blame her for the role, it’s all Director Michael Bay’s (Meatloaf’s epic music video, I Would Do Anything For Love) doing.  He likes pretty things and they are on display a-plenty here.  Bar scenes, work environments – there isn’t a single unattractive woman…anywhere.   He’ll even lead you to believe that Carly could endure this epic explosion laden, building crashing, high speed running, roof diving adventure all the while sporting 4 inch heels…without missing a step.

Continuing the horrid casting was the voice of Leonard Nimoy (TV’s Star Trek) as Sentinel Prime.  Not that his voice is so bad, and never once did I envision ‘Spock’ in my head as I listened.  Of course, that was all the way up until his robotic entity started spouting old lines from the Star Trek movies (I’m not kidding).  Speaking of voices, somebody chime in and give your thoughts on Optimus Prime’s voice throughout the film.  Call me crazy, but in some areas it almost sounded like a different person.  You can chalk up John Turturro’s (Do The Right Thing) reprisal of Agent Simmons to some really bad box office timing.  Turturro’s voice is currently featured in the new Cars film, and if you’ve seen it recently, hearing his voice and seeing him is going to feel a bit strange.  I kept thinking he was about to jump into an Italian race car and speed away towards the Decepticons.  The icing on the cake belongs to my sweetheart, Frances McDormand (Darkman) who takes a turn as a top level US government Director overseeing the Transformers operation.  Sadly, even she must submit to a storyline that degrades her into being a lovelorn fool trapped inside a grafty and stern exterior.

Adding to the oddities is this concept of ‘robot blood’ which seems new for the series.  For some reason, the filmmakers don’t believe we can grasp the true nature of a deadly blow to a robot unless we see the affected spewing something from their orifices.  And because its robot oil/blood, and not the real thing, it can safely ride a PG-13 rating?

Bottom line, this is a solid 3D vehicle and will definitely give you your money’s worth in that sense, but outside of that, don’t go thinking the promos are ‘more than meets the eye.’  If you want a great display of action and female eye-candy, this is your movie.  If you want a substantial story and a believable plot, you might want to look elsewhere.

3 Stars Out of 5

Transformers, Dark Of The Moon 3D is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, mayhem and destruction, and for language, some sexuality and innuendo.

Before we get into the flick, a quick blog/disclaimer; this film has been on my ‘to see’ list for almost 2 years.  Not because I was in breathless anticipation, but because I pegged it as the first film I would take my younger son to see in theaters.  We’ve been talking it up for months, and I’ve been building the potential experience up in his little three and a half year old head.  He loved the 1^st Cars on DVD and has watched it religiously daily while collecting all the cars.  I was worried about the film being in 3D and whether or not he would acclimate to it – he didn’t.  He kept removing the glasses or trying to look over them.  Now I’ll be taking him to a non 3D showing at the theater this weekend to make up for it.  Be warned; if you’ve got a pre-schooler…choose your 2D/3D wisely.

Cars 2 picks up about five to six years beyond where the first film ended.  Although our saucy red hot-rod Lightning McQueen setup his racing team in old Radiator Springs, he apparently has never been back there in the years between; spending his time cross-country trotting and collecting a series of Piston Cups.   Deciding to slow down for awhile and hang out with his old gal pal Sally and re-visit his best friend Mater, he’s coaxed out of his light retirement and into a 3 continent Grand Prix race by the boisterous Italian Formula 1 car, Francesco Bernoulli.  Looking to make amends for leaving ‘hick’ Mater home all the time, McQueen drags him around the world to help with his races.  Along the way Mater’s unique personality causes a riff between the two, and Mater, in a misguided attempt to help McQueen and leave town at the same time, is mistaken for an undercover spy by a duo of British secret agents, Finn McMissile & Holly Shiftwell.  Turns out, there’s a big investigation involving oil and alternative fuels and the duo mistake him for an American operative who’s supposed to be there to assist with solving the case.

The gang’s all back once again for Cars 2, and just like the original, it’s a somewhat exploited and re-used storyline not befitting the uniqueness and creativity of a company like Pixar.  The first film was a loosely based ‘Doc Hollywood,’ this time it’s a loosely based ‘pick your 007/Bourne/spy’ flick.  The cars look amazing and the 3D is exploited to its highest potential coupled with Pixar’s animation, but its long (really long for a kiddie cartoon), and scattered in its story.  Despite what you may have thought from the first film, if Mater and McQueen were such good friends, wouldn’t he have invited him on the road at least once before now?  If Finn McMissile, the British spy is so adept, how could he possible mistake Mater for a covert agent pretending to be a tow truck?

The true worth of this film is the zillions that’ll be raked in on the merchandising.  The onslaught began a few months ago, and will only get more relentless as film winds through megaplexes and onto home video.  What’s different this time, is there is no attempt to even introduce or meet half the characters.  There are a bevy of new cars from the Grand Prix races, all with names, but none of which you actually get to build any on-screen time for save Francesco.  Oddly, those ignored vehicles will probably be the highest selling.  Shu, the Japanese racer for sure.  He’s a mockup of a McLaren F1 and just really cool looking.  Rod Redline (voiced by Evil Dead alum Bruce Campbell), is a supercharged Ford muscle car and an American spy, but when he shows up in the film he’s appearance is more confusing than cool.  He’ll make a great toy car, sadly he’s a confounding ‘on screen’ presence.

The takeaway here is, your six to sixteen year old may like this film but only for the cars.  The 30+ crowd with kids will get a kick out of the storyline and action.  I personally thought it was a cool concept to pit the ‘good guy’ cars against a bad guy faction comprised of all the cars we’ve known and hated through the years; Yugo’s, Gremlins, Pacer’s, Reliant K’s…you know the real lemons of our time.  Sadly, that spark of wit isn’t enough.

2 Stars Our of 5

Cars 2 is rated G for action sequences and thematic material.  Running Time: 111 minutes.

Green Lantern blasts its way into 4000+ megaplexes this weekend, and audiences are going to be scratching their heads at the end of this one.  Call this my ‘lead pipe’ lock – a big opening, followed by a sputtering 50% loss in audience over the next few weeks.  It’s not that it’s a bad film, because it’s not.  Solid acting, a super hot feminine lead, and some really great attention to detail in the special effects driving the Lantern suits – but it doesn’t move right.  Not exactly cartoony, and not serious enough, it tries to ride a line of appeal to all ages and like the ill fated Speed Racer of 2008, it’s going to win over neither.

Green Lantern is the comic book turned film about a hot shot test pilot, Hal Jordan.  Hal is tormented by the untimely death of his father who was a show pilot and he leads a reckless and self indulgent lifestyle as a result.  When fate drops an alien warrior, Abin Sur, on Earth, dying from wounds imposed by a new super evil named Parallax, Hal is chosen to take the warrior’s place and wear the ring that makes him the famed Green Lantern.  The ring turns thought into reality in the form of projections – giving a Lantern the ability to create and do almost anything.  When Parallax realizes that the ring belonging to Abin Sur, the warrior who once vanquished him, is now on Earth – a collision course ensures between Hal’s newfound powers and the unstoppable Parallax evil that feeds on fear.

I was never a fan of the comic book series, and for me Green Lantern was just a guy in a green suit that flew and had a ridiculous mask to hide his eyes and cheekbones in some misguided thought that it would hide his identity.  Suffice to say, the same mistake was made here.  I read weeks ago that the film was granted an extra few million in ‘post’ to go back and add details to the suit and mask.  The detail is amazing, no doubt, but all the attention to pixels in the world doesn’t make up for a story that just moves horridly.  It drags into a culmination that seems forced, even the 3D doesn’t help your enjoyment.

Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) does a great job as the foolhardy, rash test pilot Hal.  He’s mildly charismatic, and his relationship with Carol Ferris (Blake Lively – The Town) is fun and playful to watch.  As far as Blake’s performance, she once again displays poise and execution, but she’s victim to bad placement.  I’m all for equal rights in the workplace, but it’s a tough stretch to get me to believe that the heir apparent to a military contracting company would be this attractive and conduct business in super high mini’s and 4 inch Jimmy Choo’s.  I understand the need to build appeal into the feminine lead, but this is a bit ridiculous.  Like Megan Fox in Transformers, she’s distractingly too good looking for the role.  Angela Bassett (Strange Days) returns to the screen in a bit part as Dr. Amanda Waller, a government research scientist.  I love Angela, and have always looked for her to re-appear, but her role in this film was entirely too short and I questioned if she did it just to get her face back out there.  She’s powerful and dynamic – what did she possibly feel this role would bring for her?  Even Tim Robbins’ (The Shawshank Redemption) turn as Senator Hammond was boring and opaque.  The bright light in the film is Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) as Sinestro.  No stranger to playing stern and disciplined characters, he brings conviction to Sinesto and commands respect with his dialogue.

Fans of the comic may find this one a great retelling of Green Lantern’s origin, but moviegoers will be ho-hum about its 3D, dazzled by Lively, and thinking to themselves, how could a villain so smart fall for Lantern’s oh so simple plan to thwart him?  Before I forget, stick around when the credits roll – there’s a nice teaser surprise in it for you.

Green Lantern is rated PG-13 for violence and gore, and brief profanity.  Running Time: 105 minutes.

There’s no breaking of new ‘story’ ground with the Hangover 2. You saw the formula in the first and it’s on display here again. Waking up from a terrible bender minus a compadre and your memory. Moving through a series of raucous and rudely funny scenarios while attempting to piece together the previous night. Only this time, the crew has traveled around the world to sunny Thailand. Stu, the lovelorn dentist has flown to his fiancé’s hometown for a traditional wedding. Hoping to keep things simple, he organizes a simple all guys brunch which turns into what Mr. Chow describes as ‘a sick night b*tches!”

It’s easy to say the formula is the same, but it’ll surprise a lot to see a much better execution of the antics and even the wit (is that a poster of Macho Man Randy Savage in Alan’s room?). Even the Kanye West montage arrival into town is repeated for those who remember the original. Director Todd Phillips (Road Trip) has pieced together a sequel worthy of the title. Bradley Cooper (Limitless), Zack Galifinakis (It’s Kind Of A Funny Story), Ed Helms (TV’s Daily Show), and Justin Birtha (National Treasure) return as the wolfpack Phil, Alan, Stu, and Doug respectively. The real talent on display here is the return of Ken Jeong (TV’s Community) as Mr. Chow. I’ve never laughed so hard for, or at a character. Twice as zany as the original, and four times more gangster – he steals the movie hands down. Pulling in a strong second is Stu’s musical montage to the tribulations the crew faces while hunting down their friend. Billy Joel is somewhere smiling I’m sure.

Like the previous film, there’s a great mystery to solve, and just like the original, the clues are all around you if only you weren’t laughing at these idiots. I humbly admit that until they found the pieces on screen, I didn’t know – but it was great to re-realize what I had seen and how it all pieced the mystery together.

Hangover 2 is funnier than the original, dirtier than the last effort, and even more violent. Gunfire, the ladies of Bangkok (is it it Bangcock?), and one liners from pseudo-gangster Mr. Chow ‘I international criminal…everything always end in gunfire.’ Go see it for the same reason the prequel was so endearing. You’ll get a happy, healthy heaping of insane antics leaving you…hung over, again.

The Hangover, Part II is rated R for drug use and reference, nudity, strong language, and graphic violence.